September 25, 2009

Gefilte Fish That Glows in the Dark

The traditional choice for a kosher fish supper is chopped and boiled or chopped and fried. But we can reveal a new option — chopped and glow-in-the-dark.

Student Jessica Taylor was shocked to see her late-night gefilte fish snack light up the kitchen of her north London family home by glowing bright green and yellow. Her mother had bought the Hoffman’s product the previous day at Moshe’s Deli in Temple Fortune.

Joff Taylor, Jessica’s father, said: “My daughter came home at two or three in the morning and was starving. She did not put on the kitchen light, took out the fish and closed the fridge.

“The fish was glowing very brightly so she took it out of the pack and held it in her hands. When she put it down, her hands were glowing.”

Suspicious of Jessica’s claim, Mr Taylor and his wife asked her to recreate the scene the following evening. “We turned off the lights and she brought the fish out. We all stood there amazed. It was brighter than a glow-stick.”

The Taylors opted not to eat the fluorescent fish, which was not beyond its use-by date, and threw it away.

A Moshe’s spokesman said: “Sometimes the fish eat some phosphorus and it glows. It’s good for you. We’re not the manufacturer, we just sell it.” Geeta Cohli, a consultant to Hoffman’s Foods, said the company had received no complaints from customers. “The family should have kept the fish as evidence. We would have done some tests. I’m a qualified micro-biologist and I have never heard of this. I think it was an act of God.”

A Food Standards Agency spokeswoman attributed the glowing fish to luminescent bacteria which occur naturally in sea water. “Most luminescent bacteria are harmless but their presence may indicate that other, harmful bacteria are also present through cross-contamination with other uncooked products. We would advise that the fish should not be consumed.”

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Gefilte Fish That Glows in the Dark

The traditional choice for a kosher fish supper is chopped and boiled or chopped and fried. But we can reveal a new option — chopped and glow-in-the-dark.

Student Jessica Taylor was shocked to see her late-night gefilte fish snack light up the kitchen of her north London family home by glowing bright green and yellow. Her mother had bought the Hoffman’s product the previous day at Moshe’s Deli in Temple Fortune.

Joff Taylor, Jessica’s father, said: “My daughter came home at two or three in the morning and was starving. She did not put on the kitchen light, took out the fish and closed the fridge.

“The fish was glowing very brightly so she took it out of the pack and held it in her hands. When she put it down, her hands were glowing.”

Suspicious of Jessica’s claim, Mr Taylor and his wife asked her to recreate the scene the following evening. “We turned off the lights and she brought the fish out. We all stood there amazed. It was brighter than a glow-stick.”

The Taylors opted not to eat the fluorescent fish, which was not beyond its use-by date, and threw it away.

A Moshe’s spokesman said: “Sometimes the fish eat some phosphorus and it glows. It’s good for you. We’re not the manufacturer, we just sell it.” Geeta Cohli, a consultant to Hoffman’s Foods, said the company had received no complaints from customers. “The family should have kept the fish as evidence. We would have done some tests. I’m a qualified micro-biologist and I have never heard of this. I think it was an act of God.”

A Food Standards Agency spokeswoman attributed the glowing fish to luminescent bacteria which occur naturally in sea water. “Most luminescent bacteria are harmless but their presence may indicate that other, harmful bacteria are also present through cross-contamination with other uncooked products. We would advise that the fish should not be consumed.”